WEST NICHOLSON – “Money doesn’t grow on trees!”
And this is often said in the context of our seemingly never-ending economic challenges. The
adage, however quickly crumbles into a fallacy, for those who visited Dubani, near West
Nicholson, beginning late December till end of January. People were literally plucking
money from trees.
One man who will sure vouch for me on this one is 35-year-old Elias Dhlana, who is
popularly known as Mdawini. Mdawini and his friends did not have to chant; “Abracadabra!”
for them to be able to pluck money from the trees. The feat became possible, thanks to the
Gonimbrasiabelina. That is the zoological name given to a green/brown/red mottled giant
moth. It is this large flying insect whose eggs, which are laid on mopane trees, hatch into the
greyish caterpillars, commonly known as Amacimbi in Ndebele, madora in Shona ,masonja
in Venda, phane in Tswana andinfinkubala in Bemba. In Namibia, the caterpillar is known as
omangungu. The caterpillar is native to the warm parts of Southern Africa.
At the beginning of the year, the Gonimbrasiabelina was so plentiful, as to be sighted
everywhere including the night clubs, a strong indication we were headed for a bumper
season. And true, Mother Nature treated us to a mega harvest of the caterpillar this year.
Mdawini got seriously involved in the Amacimbi business last year in April when nature
provided another bountiful supply of the caterpillars. It was really manna from heaven. The
police roadblock at the 10 kilometre peg along the Gwanda –Bulawayo road paled into
insignificance when the caterpillars blocked traffic as they literally moved across the
highway. Mdawini said he harvested close to 27 buckets from Sigwindiri, just across the

Mtshabezi River. This year, the locus of activity had shifted from the 10 kilometre peg to the
forest stretch between Collen Bawn and West Nicholson.
The magnitude of the harvest which had upped this year, saw Mdawini harvest a total of 38
buckets of the delicacy, inside a period of only two weeks. Initially he would pick the
caterpillars, fill a bucket then sit down to squeeze out the guts. He discovered he would speed
up the process if he squeezed the caterpillar the moment he picked it off the leaves. (He
would have increased his haul had he decided to put up camp in the bush).
The pressed caterpillars are further processed by either boiling them in brine or roasting them
in hot embers for about five minutes. The latter method is preferable as it does not result in
loss of minerals as when the stock is thrown away after boiling.
Further to this, the former method would entail drying the caterpillars in the sun for a long
time, which is time-consuming. When the supply of the caterpillars is high, like at the
beginning of the harvest, a bucket would go for between US$20 and US$25. Further into the
season, the price appreciates due to increasing scarcity. It can get to as much as US$40.
Mdawini explained that the harvest of amacimbi occurs twice a year, around December and
April. The haul is bigger and of better quality in April, partly because there is relatively more
bouts of sunshine in April than in December.
News of this year’s abundance quickly filtered to the other parts of the country. Soon all
roads were converging on the West Nicholson neighbourhood. Busloads were bringing
pickers from as far afield as Mberengwa and Masvingo.
These pickers would camp in make-shift structures for two weeks, harvesting the caterpillar
day and night. At that rate, each picker would easily fill two –and- a half buckets a day. And
because these people would be racing against time, the danger always lurks that even the thin,
underdeveloped caterpillars would be caught up in the harvest. Needless to say, this
compromises the quality of the catch. It is the ‘insumbe’ or fully developed caterpillar which
makes the high grade.
It is very likely that this indiscriminate harvesting can lead to depletion of breeding stock.
Besides that, there is really no conflict or competition between the so-called “outsiders” and
the locals who seem only interested in picking for domestic consumption. The traders from
outside even go further to buy the locals’ catch by bartering with goods such as clothing, food
items and even beer.
Notwithstanding this, there is concern from other quarters that the traders are responsible for
the total “disappearance” of the mopane worm from some areas. The traders are blamed for
failing to observe some traditional rites. These include, not picking the caterpillars during the
night, strewing the caterpillars squeeze guts all over instead of burying the stuff underground
and putting a lid on the bucket when boiling the Amacimbi in the bush. The list of taboos is
quite long and tradition has it that, if not religiously observed, this will keep the caterpillars
away, come next season.
Mdawini and his friend, 25-year-old, Forward Khumalo, who pass most of their time panning
for gold in the bush, were so happy with the income they got this season, to the extent they
wish the harvest would continue throughout the year. They point out, and rightly so, that

besides the income from gold panning being unpredictable, gold panning causes degradation
of the environment.
This brings into focus a very important issue: the farming of mopane worms. A number of
minds including botanists, zoologists, nutritionists and economists, may need to come
together to see how the protein-rich mopane worm could be continually harvested. There is
nothing impossible. The walls of Jericho were brought down by the shrill of a trumpet.
And then, the people of Matabeleland South will really be plucking money from trees!